Counts of the population by Spanish origin in complete-count tabulations are provisional. Final counts for Spanish origin will be determined after the sample data have been processed. The sample counts will first appear on the tape in STF 3 and in print in Characteristics of Population, General Social and Economic Characteristics, PC80-1-C reports.

Determined by a complete-count question which asks respondents to self-identify whether they are of Spanish origin or descent. If, when interviewed, the person reported a multiple origin and could not provide a single origin, the origin of the person's mother was used. If a single response was not provided for the person's mother, the first reported origin of the person was used.

Persons marking any one of the four "Spanish" categories, i.e., Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or other Spanish, are collectively referred to as "persons of Spanish origin."

In certain tabulations, persons of Spanish origin are further classified by type:

Persons who filled the circle for "other Spanish/Hispanic"; or persons who wrote in an origin or descent associated with Spain, the Dominican Republic, or any Central or South America country except Brazil or a nonspecific Spanish group such as "Spanish surnamed" or "Spanish speaking."

The Spanish-origin question was asked on a l00-percent basis for the first time in 1980. A similar question was asked on the 1970 5-percent sample questionnaire. For 1980, the category "No, not Spanish/Hispanic" appeared first (the corresponding category appeared last in 1970). Also, the terms "Mexican-American" and "Chicano" are added to the term "Mexican." The category "Central or South American," included in 1970, was dropped.

Although a question on Spanish origin was included in 1970, it was not the major identifier used to classify the Hispanic population in the 1970 census as it is in 1980. Depending on the section of the country, 1970 census data for "Persons of Spanish Heritage" were variously defined as "Persons of Puerto Rican Birth or Parentage" (in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), as "Persons of Spanish language or Spanish Surname" (in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas), and as "Persons of Spanish Language" (in the remaining 42 States and the District of Columbia). "Spanish Language" referred to those persons who in 1970 reported Spanish as their mother tongue, as well as persons in families in which the household head or spouse reported Spanish as his or her mother tongue.

A large concentration of metropolitan population composed of two or more contiguous standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSA's) which together meet certain criteria of population size, urban character, social and economic integration, and/or contiguity of urbanized areas. Each SCSA must have a population of one million or more. Thirteen SCSA'S were in existence at the time of the 1980 census. They were defined by the Office of Management and Budget according to criteria published by that office in Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas: 1975. Four additional SCSA's have been defined based on 1980 census results.SCSA'S are identified by a 2-digit numeric code. Summaries for SCSA's appear in many reports, and in STF's 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C. Summaries are generally provided for SCSA totals and for within-State parts of SCSA's.

The original 13 SCSA's were designated in 1975. For the 1960 and 1970 censuses, the Census Bureau recognized two "Standard Consolidated Areas" (SCA's), which encompassed metropolitan complexes around New York and Chicago.In 1982 or 1983, the SCSA concept will be replaced by the new Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) concept, with somewhat more flexible criteria, as spelled out in the Federal Register, January 3, 1980. These changes will not affect publication of l980 census data for SCSA's.